Watch Beer: An Insider's Guide

Beer has been around for centuries. One of the most popular drinks in the world, right now over 100 billion liters of beer are consumed annually. Now we get to have an intimate look at the world of beer, learn everything from sorting, to cooking, to storage and consumption. Get to know beer from a brewer

Beer: An Insider's Guide Full Episode Guide

Season 16 full episodes

Episode 6 - Beer Culture

1 decade ago

The once archetypal beer drinker though has transformed into a much more discerning character reflected by the recent surge in sales of premium and imported beers. We meet Australia's largest independent importer of beer, Franck Berges 'recently crowned a Knight by the Belgian Brewer's Guild - to see what the trends are and the future predictions for this booming market. Australia's foremost Belgian beer expert, Olivier Massart, tells us why the most passionate beer drinkers are already prepared to pay $28 a bottle for the ultimate nectar made by Trappist Monks.

Episode 5 - Crafting Beer

1 decade ago

With their low-yield, high quality products, small regional producers are meeting the demands of a more sophisticated marketplace and beer has joined the queue - small breweries offering unique, full-flavoured, full-bodied beers. It's boom time for hand-crafted beers. We visit the key industry players - like Bootleg Brewery - who are taking wine producers head on with high quality beers. We also visit start up micro-brewers Bug Ocean to see first hand what challenges face first-time commercial brewers. While in the west, we learn the secrets behind the success of one of Australia's best pub breweries, Fremantle's Sail and Anchor.

Episode 4 - Beer and Food

1 decade ago

Their campaign to take barbeque cooks back to school is part of a gastronomic revolution that has swept beer along in its wake. We join their new age barbeque class that shows men how to cook moderncuisine and how to match particular beers with particular foods. Beer and food matching has become a buzz topic in gastronomic circles. Multi-award winning chef Tim Pak Poy is an uncompromising epicurean - quality is everything and beer is no different. Tim is preparing his new season beer list and has asked acclaimed brewmaster Bill Taylor to help match styles with various dishes. Bill is one of the world's leading authorities on beer and its relationship to food. We check his recommendations and learn why what food, goes with what beer.

Episode 3 - Beer Mania

1 decade ago

After touring their beer-filled house, we follow them to the 25th Anniversary 'Canathon' where beer can collectors from all over the world gather to swap andtrade. Beer can collectors are just one example of people afflicted by 'Beer mania.' From the Latin 'bibere' - to drink - this ubiquitous beverage has developed its own sub-culture. Collectors of cans, bottles and memorabilia, home and pub brewers, beerjudges, brewing historians and plenty more are fascinated by the wider world of the amber.

Episode 2 - Beer Connoisseur

1 decade ago

We go behind the scenes of the world's largest annual competition for professional brewers to see how they decide the beers worthy of Champion Trophies at the Australian International Beer Awards. Three weeks before the winners are announced at the 'Academy Awards of Beer,' from 9am to 5pm for five straight days, the nine judges will each sample the 502 entered beers, and unlike wine judges, they don't spit it out. Head judge Rob Greig says one of the key taste components of a good beer is its level of bitterness and to test that thoroughly, the bitterness glands are at the back of the throat so the beer must be swallowed all 502 times.

Episode 1 - Appreciating Beer

1 decade ago

There are around 50 styles of beer that can be broadly categorised into distinct groups. We begin the series by explaining what makes each beer style unique and what distinguishes ales from lagers; the two major beer 'families.' As the world of beer flavours grows every year, new respect for its gastronomic worth is pushing beer back onto the dinner table. We already drink five times more beer than wine but now public attitudes are changing about when and how we drink it. Hosting hundreds of 'Beer Appreciation Dinners' around the world, Brewmaster Bill Taylor - responsible for the taste of two million bottles of beer brewed daily at Lion Nathan Breweries - is one of the key players involved in raising public awareness about the new age of beer. We drop in on one of Bill's dinners to see what foods complement what beers, we learn how to pour a beer correctly and we discover the truth about much-debated points like whether beer is best from a bottle or can.